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In a warm Busteni (Romania) the second stage of the Ice Climbing World Cup 2014 was won by Maxim Tomilov and Shin Woonseon. Angelika Rainer keeps the pressure on by placing second.

Last weekend's World Cup proved decidedly atypical for Busteni, both due to the weather that limited the quantity of "pure" ice and due to the strange unfolding of events; after 17 male athletes had topped out in the men's qualification, a staggering 7 out of 8 fell in the last final, resulting in no top just like in the women's event. The competition also proved highly stressful for the athletes who just 4 days after the first stage in Korea, following a timetable that was nigh impossible: the women's qualification began at 8.00am while their Semi-final took place at 8.00 pm that same day.

Maxim Tomilov won the men's competition thanks to his Semi-final result as he failed to breach an impossible section set by the Russian route setters and he literally flew off the competition wall, well below the top. Korea's Heeyong Park suffered the same fate and fell from the same, unholdable hold. Third place went, amazingly and deservedly, to tireless 48-year old Sergey Tarasov. A true icon for this sport and symbol of longevity, he was greeted by the spectators and the athletes like a rock star. It's worth noting that all the other athletes, except Tarasov, fell from different places along the highly technical and delicate route. Mauro Dorigatti, the only Italian in the competition along with Angelika Rainer and competing for AVS Altoadige, placed 14th overall having fallen in the Semis.

In the women's competition Shin Woonseon deserved victory. Having placed second in Korea, she now leads the provisional ranking, ahead of South Tyrolean "Grivel Racing Department" athlete Angelika Rainer; her excellent second place came after racing up the route after struggling to solve a highly technical and delicate section right at the start. Third place went to Russia's Mariam Filippova, Maxim Tomilov's partner. No athlete succeeded in topping out in the women's final while the qualification, much like the men's event, was marked by a large number of tops. Rainer is on great form and ready to compete in the next stage closer to home, including the one in Rabenstein in Val Passiria.

The Men's Speed was canceled during the finals as the ice was deemed unusable after the women's competition, won by the "light" Nadezhda Gallyamova, ahead of her Russian teammates Mariam Filippova and Ekaterina Feoktistova.

The next stage of the Ice Climbing World Cup will take place next week in the legendary car park in Saas Fee, Switzerland. We're certain there'll be a lot more ice down there as the ice tower maintains its cool.